Noted Missouri artist. Defranca was best known for his historical and religious paintings as well as his portraits. Born in Portugal, he emigrated to Philadelphia where he became active as an artist and exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1830. In 1844 he moved to St. Louis, where he specialized in portraiture that complemented his subjected with Classical backgrounds treated in highly romanticized color. DeFranca's affinity for flattery gained him considerable prestige and a seemingly endless number of commissions. Along with artists such as Wimar and art patrons such as Henry Taylor Blow and James Eads, he was a founder of the Western Academy of Art, the first arts organization west of the Mississippi River. DeFranca's work provides a visual diary of influential St. Louis families of the mid-1th century.
Noted Missouri artist. Defranca was best known for his historical and religious paintings as well as his portraits. Born in Portugal, he emigrated to Philadelphia where he became active as an artist and exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1830. In 1844 he moved to St. Louis, where he specialized in portraiture that complemented his subjected with Classical backgrounds treated in highly romanticized color. DeFranca's affinity for flattery gained him considerable prestige and a seemingly endless number of commissions. Along with artists such as Wimar and art patrons such as Henry Taylor Blow and James Eads, he was a founder of the Western Academy of Art, the first arts organization west of the Mississippi River. DeFranca's work provides a visual diary of influential St. Louis families of the mid-1th century.
Bio by: Connie Nisinger
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